Somewhere to Run
by ShadowHexx771
Summary: Malfoy is going through rough times at home, and after a certain incident one night, he flees. Desperate and damaged, he ends up where no one would expect. One-shot. HarryDraco slash.


**Author's Note:** This is a Draco/Harry slash one-shot. With this story, I just started writing, I didn't even think about it... I just knew I wanted a DH slash. So, here you go, two days of work right here! Enjoy. Oh yes: Review, or Die. Thanks! XD

* * *

Harry Potter, Mr. Golden Boy, Mr. Savior. Draco Malfoy absolutely despised him. He hated everything about him. And he was raised to hate him, was raised to hate the boy who made the Dark Lord disappear. But when Draco met Harry in person for the first time, something changed his impression entirely. He didn't know what it was about the boy, but he couldn't hate him. Maybe it was his enchanting green eyes, or his attitude toward things, maybe even his understanding. Draco didn't know what, but because he couldn't hate Potter, he hated the fact that he couldn't.

Over his years at Hogwarts, Draco always caught himself gazing at Harry during classes, he snapped into attention when Harry's name was mentioned, and he found himself talking about Harry non-stop.

It was like some strange obsession, and Draco didn't know what to do about it.

During the summer before his sixth year at Hogwarts is when so many things changed. Draco's mother suddenly left one day, not reappearing, and after that, Draco had a strong feeling he wouldn't be seeing her anymore. After his mother's disappearance, Draco's father started acting strangely toward him. Whenever Lucius was in the same room with Draco, he looked at him like he was hungry, crazy. One day Lucius finally hit Draco cleanly over the face. Since Draco never did anything about it, Lucius made it a habit. For days Lucius would leave, and reappear, normally drunk. He became a mess, but Draco tried to hold his head high through his father's shit. But one night, it went a bit to far...

Draco skimmed through the pages of the book he was holding. He heard the front door crash open and looked up. After a moment one of their house elves slipped into the room. Draco looked at her, his eyebrows raised. The elf looked horrified. "What-?" Draco started, but the elf violently shook her head and put a finger up to her lips. Draco took the hint and closed his mouth. He heard footsteps coming toward the library, he knew it was his father. He had been wondering when he'd come back. _Probably drunk again._ Draco sighed, putting his book down, he knew what was coming.

Lucius burst into the room and looked at Draco. He smirked. He walked straight toward Draco, ignoring the squeaks of the scared house elf in the corner. The elf gave Draco a warning look, and bit her lip. Lucius threw himself against Draco, pushing him up against a wall. Panic went through Draco as he realized his father wasn't drunk. His eyes got wide as Lucius grabbed his shoulders and roughly kissed him, biting his lips carelessly. Draco could taste blood. In a struggle to get free, Draco kicked his father in the groin. Lucius stumbled backwards and moaned with pain as Draco made a mad dash for the door. But Lucius had reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand, muttering something, and Draco hit the door full on. As Lucius stood up, recovering from the blow, he said bitterly, "There is no use in fighting me, Draco, you are trapped... and there is no one here to help you. And I know that you know that." He smirked. Draco looked around desperately and spotted a window. He looked from the window to his slowly approaching father. _Run!_ His mind screamed at him, and he obeyed. He sprinted toward the window and jumped through the glass, shielding his neck and face with his arms.

"Ooof!" He let out as he hit the ground. He could feel the glass ripping and digging into his skin. He winced as he got up to continue running. He heard his father call after him.

"Draco, you little whore, get your ass back here!" He roared from the smashed window. Draco just pushed himself to run faster, his lungs felt like they were about to explode. He didn't think, he just kept running, he needed to get away from this, from everything, he needed to get away from his _life_. He felt the sweat dripping down his back and face and his tongue felt dry and thick. Draco had no idea how long he'd been running, but he defiantly wasn't anywhere near the Malfoy Manor anymore.

"Great, now where am I going to go?" Draco murmured to himself hoarsely. Since he'd been more concentrated on getting away from his father, he just now felt the stinging pains coming from his glass wounds. He grimaced as he tried to pull a shard sticking out of his shoulder. "Geh!" It finally came out, blood staining the end. He went for another one embedded into his thigh, but the pain was to excruciating to bare. "Fuck it!" He said, squeezing his eyes shut. He reopened them and looked at the night sky. It was very cloudy, so he could hardly see any stars, or even the moon for that matter. Draco was amazed how he could even tell where he was going in the dark like this. But his eyes had adjusted pretty fast. "I'm so... tired..." He finally said, rubbing his eyes. He sat down on the ground, the grass felt surprisingly soft and cool against his skin. He laid down the rest of the way, his eyes searched the sky, he was thinking hard about his situation. He really didn't have any relatives to go crawling to, and he really didn't have any good friends. _Just my luck..._ He turned onto his side, holding his hand out in front of himself. He dug into the soft earth with his finger. That's when he thought of it. He shot up. "Potter!"

* * *

It was dawn, just scarcely after eight o'clock in the morning. Draco approached the steps of Number Four Pivot Drive, unsure. He climbed the stairs slowly and press the door bell. He stepped back, waiting for an answer. Sure enough, a minute later, the door opened, and there stood Harry. Draco smiled slightly, happy to finally see someone that wouldn't hit him. But Harry's reaction was totally different. He stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open, and quickly shut the door again. A startled look replaced Draco's smile. _Well, duh he is going to shut the door on you, you are his friggin' enemy after all!_ Draco thought to himself angrily. Meanwhile, inside, Harry was still standing in front of the door. He wondered if what he just saw was real, or was his mind playing tricks on him. Then, a quick rapping at the door made him swing it back open. But it was still Malfoy.

"Uh... Malfoy?" Harry said, still in disbelief.

"Potter." Malfoy bowed his head slightly.

"Wha... what are you doing here?" Harry asked, looking Malfoy over. He saw what a horrible state he was in, blood was splattered here and there, accompanied by glistening pieces of glass sticking out in various places, he also had what looked like a split lip, and bruises around his arms, face, and neck.

"That's a nice way to greet someone." Draco said flatly.

"Well, I wasn't really expecting _you_ to end up at my front door."

"I guess..." Draco looked at him dully, "Anyway, may I come in?"

"Uh... what?"

"May I come in?" Draco repeated.

"Um, sure." Harry replied, "You picked good day to come, my uncle is away on a business trip and my aunt in cousin went to go visit my aunt's mother. I'm surprised they actually let me stay here alone." Harry smirked. He let Draco step in.

"Yes, yes, lucky you." Draco said, walking into the front hall. Harry closed the door. They stood there awkwardly, looking at each other. Draco cleared his throat. "Well, do you have anywhere that I could... you know, clean up?"

"Yeah, just don't bleed over everything, or my aunt will go ballistic on me." He started up the stairs, gesturing for Draco to follow. "What happened to you anyway?"

"Long story..."

"I'm a good listener."

"Just drop it, Potter." Draco growled. He didn't want to be mean to Harry, he just couldn't drop the old Malfoy act. As much as he just wanted to spill out every thought in his mind, he couldn't, and it was driving him crazy.

"Fine..." Harry stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"What?"

"That's the bathroom. Clean up." Harry said coldly, pointing to the white tiled room. Draco felt a little hurt by Harry's sudden anger.

"Harry... I'm s-s.." Draco started, but thought better of it.

"What?" Harry asked curiously. Draco narrowed his eyes, as if painful to even think about what he was going to say.

"I... I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I don't mean to be an ass all of the time, honest." He blushed a little, but turned away so Harry couldn't see it.

"Really... that's interesting..." Harry said shortly. Draco was some-what offended by the way Harry took that, but shook it off. "Do you need any help?" Harry offered.

"I might need a little help with this damn glass." He replied, pointing at some of his cuts.

"Alright." Harry took Draco's arm and led him into the bathroom and making him sit on a stool. He opened a cabinet above the sink and took out a few items.

"What are you going to do with those?" Draco asked nervously, nodding toward some tweezers Harry was holding.

"I'm going to pull out the glass."

"Will it hurt?" Harry raised his eyebrows. Draco Malfoy, afraid of pain?

"Maybe."

"What do you mean, 'maybe'!"

"I'm saying I don't know if it'll hurt or not. It depends on how far it's in your skin. Calm down." Harry said, trying to sound soothing. He came up to Draco and lifted his arm gently, inspecting the cuts. His brow scrunched up as his prodded a piece of glass with the tweezers. He slowly pulled it out, blood spilling out of the now open wound. Draco let out an odd shudder, causing Harry to look at him. Draco shook his head as if telling Harry not to be concerned. Harry reached over and grabbed a washcloth on the bathroom counter, he dabbed at the cut, getting the blood off. He continued to work quietly at Draco's wounds. Draco was surprised at how gentle Harry was being with him. He stared at Harry absently, admiring his eyes, his hair, and the way he stuck his tongue between his teeth when he was having a hard time getting a shard of glass out. It was kind of... cute. _Oh God, what am I going on about?_ Draco thought suddenly. _Please don't tell me I am fucking gay with Potter._ He thought, growing angry with himself. He would have slapped himself then and there, if Harry wasn't so intently hanging onto his arm.

"Malfoy?" Harry suddenly said, cutting through Draco's thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"How did you get so banged up anyway?"

"I already _told_ you, Potter, it's none of your business!" Lashed out, a little more roughly than he'd meant to. Harry got up off his knees and set the tweezers and blood stained washcloth down. He got right up in Draco's face and looked into his eyes. The emotion his face held wasn't easy to figure out, and for a moment, just a moment, Draco thought Harry was going to kiss him.

"Look, you end up on my doorstep at eight o'clock in the morning, covered in blood, bruises, and glass. _I want to know what happened to you._" Harry said firmly, still not back away from Draco's face. Draco just looked blankly back at him, and sighed.

"Fine, you want to know what happened? I'll tell you. But are we done in here?" Draco gave in. Harry finally stepped back.

"Yeah, I have all the glass out. We just need to clean out the cuts and cover them." Harry stated.

"Good. Do you think I should just take a shower or what?"

"Mhm, I think that'd be our best bet. Use a lot of soap." Harry said, then went to another cabinet and took out a towel. "Here, just take a quick shower in here." He went over to the shower and turned it on, testing the water temperature. "That should be good. And there's the soap..."

"Uh, thanks." Draco gazed at Harry, then blurted, "Hey, you gonna leave or what?" Harry's face changed to a deep crimson color instantly and left without a word. _Man, what's gotten into everyone..._ Draco thought, shaking his head. But it was kind of funny to see Harry blush for Draco's sake. He smiled slightly, pulling off his sweaty, blood covered clothes. He stepped into the shower, the warm water hitting him. He winced as the water entered his wounds, he let out a rattling breath as he scrubbed the cuts with soap. His skin was turning pink as he scrubbed, the water got hotter as the minutes passed.

Outside the bathroom, Harry paced around the hall. _What's taking him so long?_ He thought irritably. Then he heard a key scrapping at the lock for the front door. Harry's insides totally froze in fear. He could faintly hear the voice of his Aunt Petunia outside the door. "Don't worry Dudders, I knew that cat was bad business, we'll clean you right up." She cooed to Dudley. _Shit, they are back already._ Harry thought, looking down the stairs to the front door. His eyes flashed back to the closed bathroom door. He took a door breath and walked in.

Draco was still standing in the shower, standing under the water flow, almost lifelessly. His eyes were glazed over in thought. "Malfoy!" Harry hissed. Draco jumped about two feet out of surprise. His eyes widened at Harry stared at him through the screen.

"W-what the fucking hell, Potter!" Draco cried, stuttering a bit. He looked absolutely mortified.

"Come with me- _now_!" Harry demanded, throwing a towel at Draco. Draco stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around his waist, a little taken aback. Harry quickly turned the shower off and peeked out of the bathroom door.

"What's going on?"

"_Shh!_" He continued to look out the door. "Come with me. Fast." He opened the door the rest of the way, prancing out into the hall, Draco followed silently.

Draco found himself in a small, cluttered room, he assumed it was Harry's. He started to look around, but Harry pushed him toward a bed by the only window. Draco spun around and said sarcastically, "What? You gonna rape me or something, Potter?" He rolled his eyes, but the smirked. Then he saw how serious Harry looked. Harry gave him a piercing look and then paused at his door, his ear against the door. Draco dropped the smirk, but instead stood there, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Get under my bed." Harry whispered suddenly.

"What?" Draco asked, startled.

"_Under my bed!_" Harry repeated sharply. Draco followed Harry's instructions and slipped, with difficulty, under the bed. He could hear footsteps coming for the staircase. Someone was whimpering slightly as a woman was quietly comforting the person. Draco could see Harry's feet drag across the floor and sit on the bed. He was breathing deeply. There was a load, annoying knocking on his door and a shrill voice met Draco's ears.

"What are you doing, boy!"

"Nothing Aunt Petunia." Harry's voice cracked.

"Good!" And the steps went back down the hallway. Draco heard a sigh of relief come from Harry. He stood back up and bend down on his knees, looking at Draco.

"You can come back up now."

"Okay..." Draco replied, attempting to push himself back out from under the bed, but it was hard since he only had a towel on, and he didn't want to lose the only thing covering him. When he finally got out, he sat on the bed, shivering and still dripping wet. "Well, do I get clothes, or are you just going to let me sit here, freezing my ass off?" Harry smirked.

"Oh, that's right. I have total control over you, don't I? Since you are in _my_ house." Harry said evilly, looking at his hands casually.

"Dammit, Potter."

"Now, now, language, Mr. Malfoy, language."

"You're really starting to piss me off, Potter, drop the smart-ass attitude."

"Then I suggest you be a little more... ah... _polite_." Draco bared his teeth at this comment.

"Fine." He huffed, looking away.

"Ah, good boy." Harry said as if he was talking to his favorite pet. At least he was enjoying himself. "Anyway, you never got around to telling me, exactly how did you get in this state?"

"Hnn... well, to put it shortly, I haven't been having a good summer." Draco said through his teeth.

"Clearly." Harry replied dully. "Please, tell me the whole story..."

"Well... the... whole story?" Draco said in a pleading voice.

"Yes, the whole story." Harry said, sitting down by Draco and looking at him. Draco couldn't resist those handsome green eyes. He finally looked down and started off with his mother's disappearance, and then moved into the issues with his father. Draco glanced at Harry every so often to see how he was taking it. He was watching Draco in disbelief, he had no idea this is what had been happening to Draco. His disbelief turned into concern and sympathy. Draco smiled to himself, he was glad to be getting this burden off his back, and he was glad it was Harry who was hearing this.

When Draco finished his story, he closed his eyes and sighed. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to talk to someone about this." He kept his eyes closed. "And... Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, about all I've done to you... these past years. I've never _really_ hated you, it's just how I was raised." He paused. "I've really... just wanted to be your friend." He felt something grip his shoulder softly. He opened his eyes and looked at Harry, he was holding onto his shoulder.

"I understand, Draco."

"So... can we, you know... start over?" Draco asked, holding out his hand. To Draco's joy, Harry took it, and they shook.

"Yeah, sure. Hmm, well, I'm Harry Potter... and you are?" Harry asked, there was a sense of laughter behind his voice. His eyebrows vanishing into his dark mass of hair, waiting for an answer. Draco chuckled slightly.

"Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, I've heard of you... you're that faggot from Slytherin, right?" Harry said sarcastically. Draco narrowed his eyes, reaching behind him, and he hit Harry in the side of the head with the pillow he had found. They both laughed and smiled at each other.

"HARRY!" Aunt Petunia screeched. Harry fell off the bed.

"What?" He called weakly.

"_WHY_ is there a blood covered washcloth in the bathroom!" She yelled, voice full of fury.

"Uhh... I'll be right back..." Harry said to Draco and left the room and hurried down the hall. Draco smiled giddily to himself. _Now me and Harry don't need to fight anymore..._ He though as looked down at his lap, then he realized he was still only in a towel. _Damn you, Harry, get back here and get me some proper clothes!_ He thought impatiently and looked around the room. He spotted a large cage with an owl in it. It was Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, she had her head cocked to one side and looking at Draco. She hooted lightly when she saw him returning her gaze.

The door reopened and Harry slipped back in. "Hey." He said, waving. Draco waved back.

"So, do you think you could do something about my clothes situation?" Draco mentioned cooly.

"Oh... yeah, sorry." Harry muttered as he opened up his wardrobe and pulled a few things out. Harry handed Draco a large grey t-shirt and some dark blue jeans, these too, were to big for either of them. Draco looked from the clothes to Harry, a puzzled look on his face. "Don't be so surprised, I only get Dudley's old clothes." Harry explained plainly.

"Ah..."

"Yeah." Harry turned away so Draco could pull the clothes on in private. He stroked Hedwig for a moment, but couldn't resist the urge to have a small peek, so he looked at Draco through the corner of his eye. He quickly looked back at Hedwig, his face flushing slightly.

"Potter, you don't need to be so sneaky about your peeking, it's easy to tell when someone looks." Draco stated, trying to hide a smile. He walked up next to Harry, dressed now, and stroked Hedwig once. He watched Harry and laughed at his bewildered look. But when Harry saw that Draco was looking at him like that, he suddenly took interest in a Quiddich poster hanging on his wall. "Aww, does Harry want to be stroked too?" Draco said in a high voice, as if babying Harry. Draco smiled and ran his finger down Harry's face, then he patted his head like Harry was a big, friendly dog. But Harry didn't protest, he stood still, somehow enjoying it. There was a loud knock on the door, making both Harry and Draco flinch.

"Harry! Lunch!" Aunt Petunia shrieked.

"I'll bring you back some food..." Harry whispered, touching Draco's hand and slipping back out of the room. His hand tingled where Harry had touched it, Draco no longer doubted that he felt something for Harry, and he didn't feel bad about it. He went and sat down on the bed, looking out at the noon sky. The white clouds were rolling along the bright blue sky in a carefree sort of way. Draco felt sort of relaxed, he always wanted to feel this way. He let the aroma of Harry's room and the soothing sounds all around him take over, and without realizing it, he was lulled off to sleep.

* * *

When Draco finally opened his eyes again, the room had been filled with an orange/red light. He squinted at the window and could see the sun beginning to set, the sky's colors were a brilliant mix of pink, orange, red, and light purple. He heard the faint noise of a feather tip scratching across parchment. He looked around the room and sure enough, Harry was sitting at his desk, writing something. Draco kept still on the bed, keeping an eye on Harry. After a few more minutes, his writing ceased and he rose from his seat, folding the piece of parchment. He cross the space between the desk and Hedwig's cage. He opened the cage and let Hedwig climb up his arm. She nibbled at his ear as he tied the piece of parchment onto one of her legs. Then he opened his window, a slight breeze came through, caressing Draco's face. Hedwig flew from his shoulder into the setting sun, her wings stretched out far, happy to be flying.

Draco sat up and his stomach growled loudly, Harry turned to Draco's direction. "Hey, you are up! You slept long enough."

"Yeah well, you try running all night without food, water, or rest." Draco said groggily.

"Oh yeah, I brought you some food. I couldn't nick much, otherwise Aunt Petunia would be too suspicious." Harry said, setting a plate in Draco's lap. It was two pieces of bread, a small hunk of cheese, and four carrot sticks. Draco didn't care what it was, or how much there was, it was still something. He wolfed it all down in about a minute.

"Thanks, it helps." Draco said gratefully, handing the plate back to Harry.

"No problem. Besides, since I had to do extra work today, she didn't care if I took the bread and cheese, and I said the carrots were for Hedwig."

"Work?"

"Yeah. They make me do most of the chores. I guess I'm like a house elf to them." Harry said with disgust.

"Man, I never realized how rough you had it with these Muggles. I mean, who would have thought, Great Harry Potter... slave to Muggles? I always thought you must have it good."

"No. I never had anything good in my life until I found out I was a wizard."

"I guess we are in the same boat then. Neither of us really have a good home to go to." Draco said dramatically.

"Yes, it's horrible. Swoon!" Harry said, faking a swoon.

"I'm trying to be serious here!" Draco said in a semi-sarcastic hurt voice.

"Yeah, well, we both have something to look forward to in the year at least. Hogwarts."

"Maybe for you, but even there... I have to hold to the stupid Malfoy family act and pride. I don't have any real friends." Draco said bitterly.

"Maybe you can change that." Harry suggested.

"Yeah, but how?"

"Well... you can start with... us."

"Us?" Draco said slowly. His heart started to beat faster. "What about us?"

"Look, you wanted us to start over, gain each other's trust, right? Be each other's friend. Am I right?"

"Yes..."

"Alright. Then, if we became friends, Draco, I'd promise you'd never be lonely." Harry said seriously. Draco looked into those intense green eyes and knew: _Everything was going to be okay_.

"Okay, Harry, deal." Draco paused, and then got an idea, going on. "I want to know something though... how do you really feel about me?" Harry instantly blushed.

"What?"

"How do you feel about me? I want to know."

"Well..."

"Because, even though I had been mean to you for so long, I never meant it. It was all pure Malfoy family act and pride. I actually... have been... interested in you." Now he felt himself blush.

"I already knew that."

"Huh!"

"It was easy to see you were interested in me, Draco, I just didn't know... _how _you were interested in me. I didn't know if it was hate, envy, or... love." Harry said, Draco was speechless. Harry went on. "And, well, the truth is... I've always been... sort of... _interested_... in you too." He finished sheepishly. But Draco understood. He put his hand on the side of Harry's face and leaned toward him.

"I love you too, Harry..." He breathed and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Harry didn't pull back, which Draco was relieved with. Harry placed his hand on the back of Draco's head, feeling his silky locks slip through his fingers. Draco liked the sweet taste of Harry's lips. They finally parted, smiling at each other. The sun had finally set and the sky was now a darkening color of blue, specks of white just starting to materialize here and there.

"I'm a bit tired. I think I'll go to bed now." Harry said, yawning. He kicked off his shoes and sunk into his bed.

"Mind if I lay down with you?"

"No..." So, Draco, too, sunk into the bed comfortably. He flicked the lamp next to the bed off and curled up to Harry, putting his head on his chest. Harry put his arm around Draco after a little bit. And not so long afterward, he could tell Harry was sound asleep, eyes closed and breathing heavily.

_Thank you, Harry. Now, no matter what... I have somewhere to run..._


End file.
